would like day shift to remember there are two others!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

People usually bring the 'thank you' gifts and goodies during the day shift. It's not unheard of for patient's families to leave a box of chocolates, boxes of cookies, whatever for the nurses as a 'thanks' for taking care of their loved ones. I wish it were more often, naturally, but sometimes, they do this very nice thing.

Except, of course, that the evening staff might see the last bits of it, and then there's NOTHING left for the night shifters. This is the third time in the last two weeks I've found a nice card on the break table, addressed to "the wonderful nurses" who took care of Patient X....and an empty platter of whatever used to be on it. Guess the only "wonderful nurses" are on 7-3!

Then again, on the VERY rare occasions when someone sends something in for all three shifts (different boxes or baskets), we STILL come up short: somehow, it's already been opened and partially eaten before the FIRST night shifter gets there. The evening's answer to that? "oh, it was like that when I came in". Ok, whatever.

Just a bit of consideration for other co-workers would be SO nice. Vent over.

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Specializes in ICU/ER.

We work 7-7 and our Mgrs and now basically our entire staff will immediately divvy the goods up in half.

Anything else is rude. Say something to mgmt, it may seem like a petty simple request but good mgmt will want to keep all shifts happy and they probably are not even realizing that it is hurting the other shifts feelings. You will be the better person by bringing this complaint up to them in a professional manner with the spin that it is good for the entire staff.

All else fails, start organizing yummy carry ins for your shift with big notes for 1st shift to see on the food that states "dont touch till 7pm"

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We divvy ours up right away too.

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We divvy up ours now too. When I did days we immediately got containers from kitchen and marked it with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shifts.

Course, nights had to go all the way to the top to get anyone to listen. We never used to get hospital wide gifts or food either.

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.

We too will divvy up things for each shift. Many staff other than nurses like RT, phlebotomy, transport, docs will share in goodies sent by patients whether or not they were involved in their care:icon_roll. And if we have a potluck, the word seems to spread around the whole place that there is free food to be had. Wouldn't be so bad if they contributed once and awhile. Its like going to a restaurant where a stranger is having a birthday and helping yourselves to their cake.

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I wish I worked with you guys! Racing-Mom, you know what? One of us DID say something to management, and the answer? "It all works out, it doesn't really matter who opens it first". Ha! The morning crew always opens it first, and it never "works out".

Yes, it does seem petty to them (they've heard it many times, particularly at christmastime, when more stuff comes in). Their answer? "oh, there's always something left" or "not everyone is in on every day, so it's not like everyone always gets stuff anyway". Great.

And for those of you who have nice co-workers who leave your third-shift bins alone, I envy you! Because even the stuff marked "Night Shift Only" is dug into by people other than us. But yeah, we're "petty". Because, we all know, patients just close their doors and require zero care during the night. It's only the daytime nurses who do anything for them ;)

And I hear ya on the people who come and grab goodies who don't even know who Patient X was! I HAVE been stuck in the morning, charting, and seeing a basket of goodies arrive was SHOCKED at how fast the morning crew demolished it all...and not just our floor staff, but the OT who stopped in, the RT who stopped in, the manager from ANOTHER UNIT who just "had to be bad today". Ok, but maybe one or two nurses who come in later than nine am might like to "be bad" with a bit of that chocolate??

It just gets tiring, so we don't bother to say anything anymore, not after years of saying something. I just felt like venting here, because I knew there were kindred spirits on the board!

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Specializes in Ortho, Neuro, Detox, Tele.

Yep..I've come in and seen some of the things the day shift ate....because they leave them on the table for the night techs to clean up! I HATE pigs.....it makes us look unprofessional..and I have NO opportunity to clean up until at least midnight...

When I brought in some simple cookies for both AMs and PMs, I heard that the AM shift dug into the PM ones because that one had the good cookies(m&m, etc..) on it. Well, 1. I work nights, 2. I think they deserve something too, and 3. I raised holy hell with management and they agreed to buy something just for night shift. They bought dinner.....I'd much rather have a whole meal vs. a few cookies....so it went back to them.

Karma does come back around, you know.....keep the faith.

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Yep..I've come in and seen some of the things the day shift ate....because they leave them on the table for the night techs to clean up! I HATE pigs.....it makes us look unprofessional..and I have NO opportunity to clean up until at least midnight...

YES! Same thing here. But if there's someone's snack from nights still on the table in the morning, we'll hear about how it was "left a mess for days to clean up" (as if that ever happens). We don't have platters of goodies to EAT, but we do have the empties to dump and wipe down....

When I brought in some simple cookies for both AMs and PMs, I heard that the AM shift dug into the PM ones because that one had the good cookies(m&m, etc..) on it. Karma does come back around, you know.....keep the faith.

Ah, yes, here too: it was ok to have the other guys' stuff, because they saw it as better than theirs...and anything better IS theirs. Even though it was clearly marked. Just like the time we had a fruit basket for EACH shift, and since days ate some of evenings' basket, they (evenings, I guess) felt it was perfectly ok to finish off nights' basket! We got a single apple out of that one. Oh, and the wrappers to pick up...

Answer from management? "it's fruit, for goodness' sake; it's gonna go bad, SOMEONE's gotta eat it!". I kid you not.

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Specializes in LTC, Acute Care.

I worked in one nursing home where the administrator would buy pizzas on occasion so the day shift could have it hot for lunch. She did buy enough for evening and night shift, but she would let it sit out all day in the break room that was usually hotter than Hades because, well, nursing homes are like that, and no one on days would put them back in the fridge, even when this situation was brought up. Every single time the state survey was done we on evenings (or nights) could count on pizza that was a Petri dish.

I appreciated the gesture, but putting one or two pizzas back in the fridge would have really been great so we could EAT them!

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What's even worse is when a pt/relative brings something and drops it off on days saying "Could you please make sure that (names of nightshifters) get this?"

One pt's wife brought a box of candy and said it was for the staff, but the card had the names of the people who took care of her husband: me and two others. Of course we would have shared, but the nurse who took the package for me (I was there but off the floor at the moment) started to open it. My tech stopped her, saying that it had MY name on it. The nurse said "But she said it was for all of us." My tech just pulled it away and said "You weren't even here that day, but the least you could do is let Tazzi open it since her name is on it!"

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The problem I had: I left a package of sandwiches in the fridge because I was working 2 night shifts in a row( Days and evenings get a tray from the kitchen for a meal). So I came in on day 2 and when I started to feel hungry went to the break room to get my sandwiches(which I had dutifully written my name on) and 1 out of 4 sandwiches was left. I was irate. The other shifts get food for free for their meal. I had nothing! I was ******. I wasn't about to eat the one sandwich left, who knows whos hands were on it. Never will that happen again. I don't even put food in there anymore...

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My story is from a little different point of view.....we have a wonderful activities department where I work, always having little parties for the residents with all kinds of good snacks! Well, whenever the party is over, the activities girl comes around to the units and lets everyone know "there is plenty of food left if you want to come get some!" Well, me being the good nurse I am :D, I wait until I am finshed with what I am doing to fix me a plate, unlike other staff members who tear off quicker than speedy gonzales.

By the time I got there, there was like one celery stick left! (I'm not even exaggerating!) I was starving! I saw CNA's, nurses, ect. taking plates piled high with fruit, cookies, pigs n blankets, little sandwhichs, ect, into the breakroom to save for their lunch time. I know this was wrong, but as soon as they walked out, I went to the fridge and started eating off their plates!!! I know that is kinda gross, but I was so mad! I had such bad heart burn after cramming all that food down my throat so fast!

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